After the one in recent days near Alba, a new accident is causing disruption to railway traffic on the Granda lines, once again due to a vehicle stuck between the bars of a level crossing.
The incident occurred around 9.10 am today, Thursday 23 May, in Savigliano, in via Moreno, a short distance from the Alstom plant, in the only level crossing present in the city, which has also already been the scene of several similar accidents, the latest of such as last March.
Here a van remained stuck between the bars, unable to move, and was hit by the Fossano-Ciriè passenger train passing on the Turin-Cuneo line. Firefighters and law enforcement are working on site. In an update at 11.20 Trenitalia announced that “traffic remains suspended in the direction of Turin and is significantly slowed down in the direction of Cuneo and Savona due to the collision between a train and a vehicle at a regularly closed level crossing in Savigliano. Regional trains suffer route limitations or cancellations. Regional trains towards Cuneo and Savona may record an increased travel time of up to 130 minutes”.
The mayor of Savigliano Antonello Portera highlights how the issue of accidents at that level crossing is “becoming worrying”, so much so that “possible solutions are being evaluated with the Italian Railway Network”. “In recent days – he explains – we carried out an inspection with RFI staff. Among the possible solutions, making the passage for cars one-way, therefore passable only in the direction towards Marene. It would instead remain two-way for cyclists and pedestrians. I hope that this latest episode does not affect the ongoing assessments. The problem exists and must be resolved. The only positive aspect is that we have not recorded any injuries.”
